In the Smaller Scope of Conscience

The Struggle for National Repatriation Legislation, 1986–1990

C. Timothy McKeown

Publication Year: 2013

In 1989, The National Museum of the American Indian Act (NMAIA) was successfully passed after a long and intense struggle. One year later, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) followed. These federal repatriation statutes—arguably some of the most important laws in the history of anthropology, museology, and American Indian rights—enabled Native Americans to reclaim human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony.

Twenty years later, the controversy instigated by the creation of NMAIA and NAGPRA continues to simmer. In the Smaller Scope of Conscience is a thoughtful and detailed study of the ins and outs of the four-year process behind these laws. It is a singular contribution to the history of these issues, with the potential to help mediate the ongoing debate by encouraging all sides to retrace the steps of the legislators responsible for the acts.

Few works are as detailed as McKeown’s account, which looks into bills that came prior to NMAIA and NAGPRA and combs the legislative history for relevant reports and correspondence. Testimonies, documents, and interviews from the primary players of this legislative process are cited to offer insights into the drafting and political processes that shaped NMAIA and NAGPRA.

Above all else, this landmark work distinguishes itself from earlier legislative histories with the quality of its analysis. Invested and yet evenhanded in his narrative, McKeown ensures that this journey through history—through the strategies and struggles of different actors to effect change through federal legislation—is not only accurate but eminently intriguing.

Cover

Title Page, Copyright

Contents

Illustrations

Prologue

On November 28, 1989, President George H. W. Bush signed into law
the National Museum of the American Indian Act (NMAI Act), which
included provisions requiring the repatriation of human remains and funerary
objects in the possession or control of the Smithsonian Institution.
Almost a year later, on November...

1. Tallbull’s Quest

Tallbull was also a member of the Dog Soldiers, one of the ancient
Cheyenne warrior societies entrusted with the protection of the two sacred
covenants given to the Cheyenne people by the Supreme Deity. Mahuts,
the four sacred arrows, were given to the Cheyenne at Bear Butte in South
Dakota. Is’siwun, the sacred...

2. The Green Boxes

Legislation to establish the National Museum of the American Indian
had its inception with the response to a question at the February 20, 1987,
hearing on the Native American Cultural Preservation Act. Smithsonian
Secretary Robert Adams’s testimony to the Senate Select Committee on
Indian Affairs regarding what...

3. The Political Dynamics of Public Awareness

Senators Melcher’s and Inouye’s efforts during the 100th Congress had
focused on the repatriation of collections of Native American human remains
and other objects excavated long ago and then gathered in museum
collections. It was only a matter of time before Congress began to address
ongoing excavations...

4. The Way of the Coyote

Although consensus on the Indian museum proposal was not achieved
before the expiration of the 100th Congress, negotiations between the
Smithsonian and the Heye Foundation of New York continued. Representative
Byron Dorgan, apparently frustrated with the retreat on repatriation
in other bills...

5. Two Practices, No Policy

On November 21, 1989, seven days before President George H. W.
Bush signed the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) Act
into law, Senator Daniel Inouye offered another repatriation bill. In introducing
S. 1980, Inouye began by lauding the Smithsonian Institution for
taking a courageous step...

6. A Defining Moment

On July 10, 1990, Representative Morris Udall (see figure 6.1) introduced
a new bill as a compromise among the various bills already under
consideration by the House. The first section of H.R. 5237 provided the
short title for the new bill—the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act—testament...

7. The Biggest Thing We Have Ever Done

The number of repatriation bills ostensibly under consideration when
Congress reconvened after the August 1990 recess had grown from the
single ill-fated effort introduced without a cosponsor by Montana Senator
John Melcher in the waning days 99th Congress, to seven different measures
sponsored by five...

8. Legislative History in Interpretive Context

President George H. W. Bush’s signature on the final page of the National
Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) Act and on the Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) ended the
opening stage of the legislative process covered in the first seven chapters
of this book. Legal scholars...

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